DAY 392/393/394

Sept 27, 28 & 29

1) The past couple of days have given me some much needed study time, especially having Thurs and Fri off. My timetable has subsequently been packed full of miscellaneous activities, completely unrelated to studying. So I've decided to participate in this year's PMCSA Games, held annually between RCSI and our friends from UCD. We had our first practice (Ultimate Frisbee), and it was lovely fun.

2) I've also come down with a sore throat and runny nose. It seems almost everyone is getting sick at this time of the year - many of my friends have either gotten sick or are sick too! It could be the drastic change in temperature that's causing this. But anyway, I have my first quiz (Quiz 1) next Tuesday, so there really isn't much time to think about this...

3) Kickboxing practice has been brought forward to the morning (usually it's Sat afternoon) due to the coach being busy. I look forward to my second practice with the other members, as I find kickboxing a great way to destress and have a good workout! Also, I will be attending the MMII Event "Late-Night Coffee with MMII" tomorrow night, at Accents Coffee and Tea Lounge. Again, it's basically another excuse for me not to study and hang out with my friends instead.

4) To cap it all off, our group (for the EBH/PHE Team Project) will be meeting up tomorrow, to see how far we've progressed. Frankly, I am looking forward to completing this once and for all, as it is taking up a lot of my valuable time. Time which I can put to good use - such as sleeping. This reminds me, the library has come up with a policy - you can only leave your belongings (at your preoccupied space in the library) for up to 30 minutes. Any longer than that, and someone else can take over your seat, and your belongings removed to a secure location.

5) The decision was made after many students left their stuff and went off for hours at a time. I think it is a good idea, but honestly I would prefer if we were given a bit more time. Library spots are a "hot" spot given the nature of our study, as well as the studiousness of my friends. Given how almost everyone I see is literally buried in books/ self-made notes, it can all be a bit daunting. But I guess everyone learns to cope eventually...

6) So that has been my recount of the past couple of days, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks for visiting as always, and have a good day. Cheers!

Free Friendship Lunch - 

with Dr Ebun Joseph (Career Development Consultant) 

and two Student Representatives :D

Sandwiches and banter - just in time for the afternoon lectures!

Jigsaw: 5-A-Day for Positive Mental Health

(RCSI Health & Wellbeing Week)

Follow the trail of food - just kidding (okay only partially ^^)

DAY 193

Mar 13

1) Today has been a really tiring day for me. I've spent the whole day in the library as always, but that wasn't the cause of my fatigue. I was tired because I had spent my time alternating between study and completing the various projects that I had.

2) I always feel freshest in the morning, so I allocate this as my study time. I managed to cover quite a number of lectures by noon and was feeling proud of it. Then, I had my lunch and a short nap afterwards. Today, we received our score for plagiarism, for the team project that we submitted in yesterday. We got 16%, meaning 16% of our work is purportedly "plagiarised".

3) Me, Ali and Ruth met at the Group Study Room upstairs to discuss on how to reduce the score. After much deliberation, we decided to alter phrases and to use our own words as much as possible. We also attempted the final remaining task, which can only be done after receiving our Turnitin (plagiarism) score.

4) By evening, we had finished. Now all that's left to do is to go through the whole thing ONE LAST TIME, to check for any spelling or grammatical errors. Then we should be able to submit the final version and be done with it for good. As for me, I continued on my lessons, studying for a couple more hours, before deciding to call it a day. That has been today's blog update, and thanks for reading. Cheers!

Anatomy of the human body,

locate in one of the Group Study Rooms of Mercer Library

My morning ritual

Q: What's better than ONE laptop? 

A: TWO laptops of course! ^^

DAY 192

Mar 12

1) Today has been a long day for me. As it's nearing our next batch of quizzes, there's nothing much to do, other than to study and cover as much as possible. This afternoon we received our timetable from our class reps, and it did more than raise a couple of eyebrows. For HBPS (Healthcare Behaviour and Patient Safety) alone, we need to cover 24 lectures, out of which only 4 questions will be asked! So much effort, for what is potentially so little gain...

2) Anyway, I spent the whole morning studying as usual, covering the rest of the GIHEP lectures. I've by and large skimmed through the REGUB (Renal, Endocrine, Genitourinary and Breast) module, so I still have this and the HBPS to cover. Hopefully that will be covered before the test.

3) This evening, Ali, Maziad and I met to do the final proofreading, before submitting our group work for the HBPS Team Project. We shall expect a score and some feedback from Turnitin, and we will then amend whatever needs to be amended, before submitting it one last time. But for now, I'm just happy that we have submitted our first draft version.

4) Most of my night has been spent continuing what I started out to do today; going over past lectures. It may appear to be boring and monotonous - being stuck in the library all day - but I assure you I am more than happy here, learning new stuff about the human body every day. That's all for today, and thanks for reading as always. Cheers!

A lovely day today in St. Stephen's Green

Cooking for the next batch of food ^^

DAY 172

Feb 20

1) Today has been a really busy day for me. To start things off, we had a solid four hour block of lectures, beginning at 8.00am! The agony of waking up for the 8.00am class is real XD Anyway, at noon, we had a brief respite for lunch, and I had some chicken sandwiches with stuffing. There wasn't much time to idle about, as most of us were involved in the Interfaith Celebration event at the Unitarian Church.

2) Many of my friends were ushers, while Khee Heng was the candle bearer. I was chosen to read a text on thanksgiving for the donors, and I was accompanied by three others. By 2.30pm, the event began, with prayers, poems, reflections and choir performances to commemorate the deceased and to show our appreciation to their families for their sacrifice. Professor Clive Lee, Professor of Anatomy, RCSI - was also present to give his address to those present. It was a solemn and emotional gathering, but made all the more memorable with the presence of the surgeon prosectors and family members alike.

3) After the concluding words by Rev Bridget Spain, we were all invited to the College Hall (RCSI) where refreshments were served. Here we got an opportunity to meet up with some of the family members, and many of them thanked us for hosting this event. It gave me immense joy to know that their loved ones voluntarily donated their bodies and that they honoured their wishes. As medical students, I think it is imperative we make the connection that the "cadavers" that we study in the Anatomy Room (every Tues and Fri) are someone's brothers, sisters, spouses or relatives. It just makes us appreciate the greatest gift of them all; the gift of life. And we should never forget that.

4) Immediately after the event, I hurried over to Mercer Library, where my group and I discussed on the Team Project. Fortunately, we are almost done and just have to compile everything and proofread it before submission. Hopefully we'll complete this before our next meeting, which is after Reading Week. At 6.00pm, I was again back at the College, to meet up with the PMC Student Association, to discuss on the performance for International Night. While I still can, I aim to be as active as possible in all sorts of events, before we start doing clinical rotations in hospitals. As expected, the rest of the night will be spent trying to read up on my lessons, in preparation for Card Signing this Friday. That has been my day, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks as always, and have a great day. Cheers!

An important event, made all the more memorable by those present

Toast galore

I have a fancy for stained glass windows ^^

Group selfie time! (After the event)

Cookies so massively BIG...

Everyone's so well dressed! :D

Promoting a Green Campus Initiative

From l-r: Khee Heng, me, Esther, Jason

L-r: Hong, me, Nee Kee, Esther, Stephanie, Khee Heng, Jason

(secretly advertising for Coffee Doc)

DAY 164

Feb 12

1) Today has been a normal day for me. Woke up and had my breakfast, before going over to the library. Basically, it was studies till lunch time, trying to make up some lost time haha. Afterwards, I had a nice long chat with my parents. Although I miss them (dearly), I'm really glad to hear everyone's doing fine back home...

2) By the time we finished, it was almost late afternoon. I decided to tackle a bit of my Team Project and Individual Project Assignments, and that took up the rest of my time. For dinner, I sampled some of my batch cooked fried rice, and it tasted really good haha. I'm definitely making more next time.

3) As night fell, I found myself studying yet again, revising on past lectures as well as reading up new ones, in anticipation of tomorrow's schedule which is - yet again - another 9-5 lecture. Anyway, I'm going back earlier tonight to print out stuff and do the laundry. So I guess that will do for today. Thanks for reading as always, and have a great day. Cheers!

That's my jacket ^^

Morning toast

Fried rice for dinner :)